Friday, May 03, 2002

More news from Boston: Fr. Paul Shanley has been arrested
in San Diego on multiple charges of child rape. Shanley is one of
the most notorious priests in the sexual abuse scandal, having been
personally shielded, and even commended, by more than one Cardinal,
being involved in numerous civil suits in addition to the criminal
charges.

Shanley, you may recall, is the priest who openly advocated sex with kids,
and yet at one point threatened
the Church with revelations of goings-on at the archdiocesan
seminary "far more shocking than my poor offerings."

My, my, my. The rape charges against Shanley depend
on "recovered memory" evidence, which is certainly open to
challenge. But if Shanley wants to even think about a substantial
plea bargain in his cases, given their notoriety, he's going to need
one hell of a proffer. Then again, he may be able to provide
one.